Sirius Conversations
by just-jilyy
Summary: ONESHOT: Sixth year Lily Evans is stuck in detention thanks to one James 'bloody toe rag' Potter. She HATED him. Sirius, Lily's companion in detention, asks for the story of what landed her in detention in the first place. And who knows, he might just help Lily realized that "Nah, she didn't".


**Authors Note: **Hello lovely readers! Here's a short little OneShot I randomly got inspired to write a couple days ago. I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I claim ownership to nothing other than my overactive imagination.

**May 1977**

"Stupid, arrogant bloody toe rag!" Lily Evans raged as she scrubbed the week-old potion out of the cauldron she was holding.

"Oi, Evans. What'd the cauldron do to get your knickers in such a twist?"

Lily glared at her companion for the evening, her eyes narrowing more when she saw the smirk on his face.

"Shut it, Black. You know who I was referring to."

Sirius Black chuckled as he set his cauldron down and leaned back to rest against the table behind him.

"I still don't understand how James is to be blamed for you being in detention this fine evening, Evans. If he did something, wouldn't he be here along with us?"

Lily scowled. Of course, it was Potter's fault! She was a Prefect, for Merlin's sake. She had only had detention one other time in her seven years at Hogwarts, and now here she was on a Friday evening and for something that wasn't even her fault.

"Maybe if your stupid git of a mate knew when to quit, it wouldn't be his fault and I wouldn't be here!" she exclaimed, banging the cauldron around some more. She should probably quit that. It wasn't as though the dirty supplies had gotten her stuck here, after all.

Sirius threaded his fingers together and slid them behind his head, making himself more comfortable. He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles, looking the picture of leisure. Lily rolled her eyes. Of course, she would be the only one doing any work.

"Why don't you explain to me what happened again? I can't believe I missed it."

"I'd rather not, Black. I don't want to be here 'til morning. Get to work."

"Tell you what Evans. I'll clean more than my share if you tell me what happened."

Lily glanced at the pile of cauldrons, then at Black, eyebrow raised. "You'd do more than your share of cleaning week old potions out of cauldrons just to hear why I'm in detention?"

"Color me curious." Sirius shrugged. "Merlin knows I won't hear the whole story from Prongs, he'll be too busy relaying how bloody wonderful you are, or how your hair shines or some such shite—no offense, Evans—and I've got a feeling this story is worth hearing the whole bit."

Lily couldn't help but blanch at the thought of Potter waxing poetic about her. Why, in the name of Merlin and Agrippa, couldn't he get it through his thick head that she _didn't _and would _never_ fancy him? She prayed for the day that he would get over his little obsession with winning the one thing he couldn't have.

Even if, maybe, she might have to remind herself to not look at him too long during Quidditch matches. And duels in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But that wasn't because she fancied him, of course it wasn't! It was simply because he was good—exceptionally good, even—at those things. Any good witch had to admit when a bloke had certain skills.

But just because she thought he was rather talented in those areas didn't mean she fancied him. No, she HATED him. That was why she avoided looking at him. Looking at James Potter was dangerous. It stirred that hate she had for him and gave her an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach…

"Well Evans? What'll it be?" Sirius questioned, breaking into her thoughts. Lily found herself thankful for the interruption.

She shook her head and sighed. She might as well just tell him. Detention was long, after all. It would be something to help pass the time. And the additional bonus was Sirius doing more cauldrons than her.

"Fine. I'll tell you."

Sirius grinned, sitting forward to prop his elbows on his knees. He looked like a kid when it was story time.

"You have to promise not to laugh."

He shook his head. "Not a chance. Sorry Evans, but I'm a firm believer in not making promises you can't keep."

Lily sighed. She had known it was a long shot. She rolled her shoulders and shifted her weight. The floor of the cold stone classroom really didn't offer even the slightest bit of comfort.

"Alright, so yesterday…"

_Lily had been on her way to Transfiguration after lunch, accompanied by her two best mates, Marlene McKinnon and Alice Prewett. Even though they were done with their O.W.L.s and didn't have to worry about their N.E.W.T.s until next year, Lily wasn't willing to be late for class. As they rounded the corner on the third floor, Lily slammed into something hard. She stumbled back, but the person she had run into reached out to steady her. She had a 'thanks' perched on her tongue until she looked up and into the hazel eyes of her rescuer. Of bloody course, it was James Potter. _

"_Potter." Lily said, her eyes flitting away from his as quickly as she could manage. She focused on a spot just over his (rather fit, she couldn't help but observe) shoulder. _

"_Hullo Lily." James grinned. "Just couldn't resist running into my arms, eh?"_

"_Oh, go deflate that head of yours Potter." She jerked away from him, still not meeting his eye. She could feel where his warm hands had gripped her arms. Her skin tingled. _

_James chose to ignore her comment and fell into step beside her as she walked down the corridor to the classroom. Marlene and Alice followed, both with curious looks on their faces as they watched the exchange. _

"_C'mon Lily. What'll it take for you to give me a chance?"_

_Lily ignored him. James Potter, however, was as persistent as always._

"_Lily, really. I've changed and you won't even give me a chance to prove it."_

_She scoffed at this. Changed? James Potter? What a bloody crock. Hadn't she just yesterday seen him snogging (or so she presumed when he was dragged into the broom cupboard by the Great Hall—rather forcefully, she might add) by that tart Katerina Lovelace? (And why that made her sick to her stomach, Lily decided, was not up for debate.)_

"_Yes. And the Giant Squid just wants someone to hug. Puh-lease Potter."_

_They had reached the classroom and James blocked her entrance. He ducked down, trying to meet her eyes, and managed it for a second. His hazel eyes (had they always had those flecks of gold?) bore into hers and she froze, her stomach flipping unpleasantly. _

_When she managed to rip her gaze away, she grit her teeth and focused on Potter's left ear lobe. _

"_Move, Potter."_

"_Why won't you even look at me Lily? What did I do that was so bloody awful that you can't even manage to look at my face?" James sounded genuinely wounded, and Lily almost felt guilty. _Almost.

_Not having an answer, Lily ignored him, keeping focused on her left ear lobe (which of course, had no flaws, just like the boy himself). _

"_I'm not joking, Potter. Move, or I will hex you." Lily bit out. "You'll be walking around head to toe purple if you don't get out of my way!"_

_James sighed and straightened, running a hand through his perpetually messy hair._

"_Can't we just talk Lily? That's all I want, honest."_

_He reached out, hesitating slightly, before brushing her chin with his fingertips in an effort to tilt her head so she would look at him. The warmth of his lightly callused fingers was her last straw. Lily snapped her head back and drew her wand. _

"_Purpura mutare!" she exclaimed, pointing her wand at James, who thanks to his Quidditch reflexes, was able to quickly move out of the way and avoid being hit with her hex. _

_Unfortunately for Lily, however, that was the exact moment Professor McGonagall opened the door to her classroom—the very same one James had been blocking. _

"_What is going…" McGonagall was questioning as the door swung open just in time for Lily's hex to hit the wrong target directly in the face. _

_Lily watched in horror as the color purple spread rather quickly from where it had struck the professor. In a matter of seconds, Professor McGonagall was completely purple from head to toe. And she was furious. _

_Lily stood frozen in place, her wand still up and pointed towards her now fuming purple professor. _

"_Miss Evans…detention, Friday night. Report to my office after class for more details."_

"So now I'm here. Cleaning cauldrons, thanks to your stupid mate." Lily finished. She was blushing furiously at the retelling of the story and couldn't quite meet Sirius's eye.

How embarrassing that she had done something so childish in the first place. But for it to have backfired so drastically? McGonagall probably _hated _her now, and she would never pass her Transfiguration N.E.W.T.s and never be an auror…and it was all Potter's fault!

Sirius was laughing so loudly—slapping his leg and wiping tears from his eyes—that Lily got annoyed and threw her rag at him.

"Shut up, Black! It isn't funny."

"You're right, you're right, "Sirius paused, trying to catch his breath. "It's bloody hilarious! You turned Minnie purple! Oh, I would've paid at least a galleon to see that."

Lily scowled. She shouldn't have told him the story. All this wasn't worth not having to scrub a few additional cauldrons.

"I am confused though." Sirius said, sobering a bit, though he did still have that awful smirk.

"Shocking."

"Har-har." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Really though. Why do you say this is Prongs' fault?"

"Because it is!" Lily exclaimed. "If the bloody toe rag would just leave me alone, I wouldn't be doing things to get thrown in detention!"

"He was just trying to have a chat." Sirius defended.

"A chat that would lead to him asking me to Hogsmeade or to the inside of a broom cupboard in one bloody obnoxious way or another!"

"Evans." Sirius looked at her, one eyebrow raised. "Pretty full of yourself, eh?"

Lily scoffed. "Of course, not…"

Sirius interrupted her. "Rather seems like it. Prongs was just being friendly, trying to chat, and you assume he's going to ask you out."

"But…"

"No, Evans. You assumed. I know Prongs has a history of that, but when was the last time he asked you out? Hm? When was the last time he made any type of pass at you?"

Lily paused. "Well, last year sometime, I suppose. Probably before everything with…with Severus."

Sirius nodded. "Exactly. And now you're too high and mighty to chat with him, or even look at him, but you still think he's going to ask you out. A bloke can only take so much rejection before he calls it quits."

Lily groaned, dropping her head into her hands. She chose to ignore the strange jump in her stomach when she thought of James being through with her. That's what she wanted…after all.

"I'm an arse."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "I do have one more question for you, Evans."

Lily waved her hand, prompting him to continue. She kept her head down, resting her check on one hand.

"Why can't you look at him? Is it because of all that shite with Snivellus…er, Severus?"

Lily shook her head. Surprisingly, she wasn't angry about what had happened with Severus any longer. Sev had made his own choices, and it was up to him to deal with those consequences. That wasn't her responsibility any longer. And honestly, Potter had been the closest thing to a normal, decent bloke when he had stepped in to defend her.

"No, its not that." Lily shook her head again. "I just…I can't look at him."

"But why?"

"I don't bloody know! It hadn't been a problem until this year. I don't know why, but I just feel strange when I look at him. So, I don't." Lily blew out a breath and lifted her eyes to meet Sirius's gaze. He had a contemplative look on his face.

"Wonder why that is."

"Probably because I hate him."

"I don't think so, Evans."

Lily laughed. "Whatever Black."

Sirius shrugged, rising to his feet. Lily glanced over and was surprised to see the pile of clean cauldrons stacked neatly. Sirius had finished his share and the additional cauldrons while she had been talking. Now, he was able to leave, probably off to cause more mischief, and she would be stuck here alone.

Sighing again, Lily turned back to her work. If she worked quickly, she might have time to finish her Charms essay before midnight. Sirius headed to the door, calling a brief goodnight over his shoulder as he wove through the tables.

"Black!" Lily couldn't resist calling after him. When he stopped in the doorway and looked back at her, she continued, however, her voice seemed to lack the conviction it usually held. "I really do hate him, you know."

Sirius grinned. "Nah, you don't."

Then he sauntered out into the corridor and left Lily alone to ponder his parting words.


End file.
